A moment later, and the landscape around him faded into a dull white.

"Now what?" he asked himself, looking around. The stone walls, painted white, were chipping. The room was bright, compared to what he was familiar with, but the light was obviously fading.

It only took a second to realize where he was. This was his hikari's side of the soul. He looked around the room. It was empty, meaning his host was in control of his own body.

"At least that's over." Yami Bakura smiled, eager to get back to his soul room, and out of the body.

With any luck, Yugi and his pathetic friends hadn't gone far into the pharaoh's memory world. And if he acted swiftly, he could even catch up to them before they reached the palace. Years of planning would not be all for naught.

"I bet he thought he could run away while I sifted through his pathetic memories. Not like he can get very far on his own in the desert. I'll just turn this ship around, and get right back to business."

He turned around to leave the room, but the door was gone. The white walls circled the soul room completely.

"Great. This is another memory." He growled under his breath, kicking the dusty floor. "Pathetic host! You're wasting my time!"

He stormed up to the front of the room, where he could see through Ryou's eyes.

"What the hell is he doing now?"

But looking through those big brown eyes made his countenance soften a little. It was a rather familiar sight, the floor of the dueling arena on Kaiba's Battle Blimp. This must have been during the Battle City finals.

Although he couldn't see anything, he could hear his own voice talking with that of the traitorous tomb keeper, Malik Isthar. Their plan to force the pharaoh to surrender was succeeding. The former king of Egypt would never sacrifice a friend to gain a mere victory.

"I remember this." He sighed, looking through the eyes of his host. The boy was clutching his injured arm, his vision blurring from blood loss. He had fallen to his knees, too weak to finish the duel. And he was only that weak because he, his yami, had taken control of the body, and forced it out of the hospital.

'Yugi, please…' his host was on the ground, whimpering like an injured puppy. 'Please, help me… Where am I? What am I doing here?'

From the corner of Ryou's eyes, he could see Joey, Tristan, Tea, and Duke shouting. They wanted Seto Kaiba to land the blimp, so that they could get Ryou Bakura back in the hospital.

'Please help me…' Ryou gasped again, grabbing his arm as the blood soaked completely through the bandage.

The walls of the soul room trembled as Ryou's breathing grew erratic. Yami Bakura jumped, thinking for a moment that the floor might give way, and send him falling into the shadow realm. But it didn't.

It was just a sign that the owner of the body was quickly losing consciousness. Not only was he in considerable pain, but he never had the chance to recover from the massive blood loss of the original stabbing.

"If I had let the blood transfusion finish, he would at least be standing under his own power." Yami Bakura mused, almost regretful. He tried to shake that regret out of his mind. "But I needed you weak! You'd fight back if you weren't."

He turned back towards the eyes. His own spirit body was arguing with Malik. He was positive the pharaoh would surrender the duel in order to save the life of his friend. Bakura, on the other hand, both then and now, knew that was an unlikely possibility.

"Malik didn't know the bastard like I know the bastard." Yami Bakura sneered, watching the events play out. "Anyone who could slaughter an entire village to make seven pathetic trinkets wouldn't mind killing one opponent. Especially if it meant he could save his stupid world."

He watched himself take control of the body, and take the blast for his host. The entire soul room shook again, the walls screaming with palpable agony. But they soon quieted down, growing substantially warmer.

"What? Does he think this means something?" Yami Bakura scoffed. "If he died, I wouldn't have a body. I did that for myself. No one else!"

But he still jumped a little as he watched Ryou's body collapsed lifelessly onto that floor. He was so weak. Barely a breath came from his weary chest. Ryou's name was being shouted from all directions, as Yugi jumped off the other platform, and dashed towards his host. He lifted the body gently.

'It's all right now, we're going to get you some help.'

'Yugi…' Ryou was barely conscious, his eyes unable to focus. He couldn't even see the pointy haired pharaoh kneeling right in front of him.

'Here, I'll carry him.' Tristan volunteered, and they lifted him up onto the other teenager's back.

At that point, Ryou, unable to keep his eyes open any longer, passed out. Yami Bakura watched his viewscreen go black. He just scoffed.

Turning around, he watched his hikari's soul appear in the room. The boy was unconscious.